Total Tops. Total team effort. Total domination.
In 12 tournament games against midget baseball opponents this season the Prince George Total Tops Knights have 11 wins and only one loss.
They went undefeated in six games while winning the Canada Day tournament in Newton and followed that up last weekend by capturing their third-straight Valley of Champions tournament in Kelowna.
"Everything worked well for us," said Knights manager Troy Waldie.
"We had one little hiccup in Kelowna when we lost to the worst team in the whole tournament in our second game (a 4-3 loss to Stony Plain, Alta.). That was just from a lack of preparation and guys were expecting to win a little too much. Everybody learned a valuable lesson because right after that every game became a must-win and they responded well."
The Knights rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the semifinal Saturday against Vernon with five runs in their half of the first inning. Tyrus Jocko replaced Prince George starter Bryan Allbee to start the second inning and the Knights went on to a 10-4 triumph.
In the final on Sunday against Clive, Alta., Jackson Belanger took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and came within one out of a complete game with seven strikeouts in a 10-2 Knights' victory.
Nicholas Potskin, Belanger, Tyrus Jocko and Brendyn Jocko each drove in runs in the Knights' five-run first inning in the final. The team combined for a .456 batting average, topping the Knights' .411 team average in Newton.
"It's not one guy standing out above anybody, it's a team effort and we like what we see so far," said Waldie. "We have a bunch of guys just hitting great right now."
Through 12 tournament games against provincial double-A opponents, Knights' pitchers have posted a miserly 1.56 team earned run average, with Belanger, Allbee and Tyrus Jocko getting a bulk of the work. That bodes well for the Knights when they head to Mission July 31 to begin their quest for a third-consecutive midget double-A provincial championship.
The Knights are holding their own against adult players in the Prince George Senior Baseball League and so far sport a 5-7 record, not including Wednesday night's game at Citizen Field against the Shooters Pub Gladiators. The Knights won't play any more tournament games until the provincial finals.
"We'll just ride out our league games and maybe play some exhibition games against the Grays [senior select team]," said Waldie.
Six Knights - the Jocko brothers, Belanger, Allbee, Myles Kazakoff and Cole Waldie - have been picked to play in the PGSBL all-star game this Friday starting at 6:30 p.m. at Citizen Field. The game will be preceded by a home-run derby.
The event is a fundraiser for the Kendall's Kids bursary in honour of D.P. Todd student Kendall Moore, 17, who drowned at an after-grad party at Kwitzil Lake on May 18.
